January 1, 2007 Episode

Authors Kim Stanley Robinson, David B. Coe, Jay Lake, Catherine Asaro and Sarah A. Hoyt are joined by John R. Douglas (from scifipedia.scifi.com) and Bananaslug and Stoney (from Jim Baen's Universe magazine). Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the January 1, 2007 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 125 minutes] ---

Topics include:

[1] Comments from listeners.

[2] Is our world already changing too fast for our cultural headlights? Jay Lake (author and anthologist) discusses this as well as Wikipedia, Google and global warming. He also suggests that those who don't benefit from The Singularity at its very beginning will be left out of it forever.

[3] Bananaslug and Stoney take us inside Jim Baen's Universe in this, the second official segment, from the online science fiction and fantasy magazine.

[4] Do large segments of the American population have various vested interests in not looking at the future's potential dangers? John R. Douglas (editor at scifipedia and one of the organizers of World Fantasy Con) believes that Americans would rather be happy consumers than listen to scientists' scary predictions. He also says that too many business people plan for the future only as far as their company's next quarter, and not one second farther. He also suggests that the first immortal may already be alive; specifically, Bill Gates.

[5] Another installment in our serialization of the novel: Bones Burnt Black.

[6] Is the internet killing hundreds of used bookstores? When the one near her house closed, Sarah A. Hoyt (author and voracious reader) was surprised to discover that she was as much at fault as everyone else. As she gradually changed her book buying habits, without her knowledge, the rest of the population had been changing theirs too.

[7] Does POD publishing (Print-on-demand) have a future? And are there times when it makes sense to use it now? Catherine Asaro (author, physicist and former president of SFWA) uses concrete examples from two of her friends. She also talks of eBooks and electronic rights.

[8] Has digital photography achieved professional quality? David B. Coe (author and serious nature photographer) says the future is here now, and the advantages cannot be ignored.

[9] Is our civilization in a time crunch? Have we reached a crisis point in history? Or has every generation seen themselves this way? Kim Stanley Robinson talks of this as well as nanotechnology and his doubts about the singularity and artificial intelligence.